Observation of Rydberg blockade between two atoms

被引：779

作者：

Urban, E. ^{[1
]}

Johnson, T. A. ^{[1
]}

Henage, T. ^{[1
]}

Isenhower, L. ^{[1
]}

Yavuz, D. D. ^{[1
]}

Walker, T. G. ^{[1
]}

Saffman, M. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Phys, Madison, WI 53706 USA

来源：

NATURE PHYSICS | 2009年 / 5卷 / 02期

关键词：

SMALL TUNNEL-JUNCTIONS; NEUTRAL ATOMS;

D O I：

10.1038/NPHYS1178

中图分类号：

O4 [物理学];

学科分类号：

0702 ;

摘要：

Blockade interactions whereby a single particle prevents the flow or excitation of other particles provide a mechanism for control of quantum states, including entanglement of two or more particles. Blockade has been observed for electrons(1-3), photons(4) and cold atoms(5). Furthermore, dipolar interactions between highly excited atoms have been proposed as a mechanism for 'Rydberg blockade'(6,7), which might provide a novel approach to a number of quantum protocols(8-11). Dipolar interactions between Rydberg atoms were observed several decades ago(12) and have been studied recently in a many-body regime using cold atoms(13-18). However, to harness Rydberg blockade for controlled quantum dynamics, it is necessary to achieve strong interactions between single pairs of atoms. Here, we demonstrate that a single Rydberg-excited rubidium atom blocks excitation of a second atom located more than 10 mu m away. The observed probability of double excitation is less than 20%, consistent with a theoretical model of the Rydberg interaction augmented by Monte Carlo simulations that account for experimental imperfections.

引用

页码：110 / 114

页数：5

共 28 条

[1] Controlled exchange interaction between pairs of neutral atoms in an optical lattice [J].